Do Celebrity Endorsements Help Win Elections

Do Celebrity Endorsements Help Win Elections Photo courtesy of Scripps Howard Foundation Wire To no surprise, the majority of Hollywood supports our current administration. George Clooney, Eva Longoria, Ellen DeGeneres, and Tom Hanks have already met the maximum donation to the President’s campaign, and they are just a few to mention. But, celebrities such as Clint Eastwood, and Donald Trump are strong supporters of Governor Mitt Romney and have also donated to the governor’s campaign. Once the celebrity reaches this maximum donation, they usually take to their social media accounts to endorse the candidate. Donald Trump is notorious for doing such things. Trump makes it clear he does not agree with President Obama’s policies and reaches out to all of his 1.7 million followers. In some cases however, celebrities can hinder a candidates chance at winning an election. In 2000, Cher was at an Al Gore event advocating views about the Middle East that did not coincide with Al Gore’s views. Eva Longoria caused an uproar amongst countless women when she re-tweeted the message: I have no idea why any woman/minority can vote for Romney. You have to be stupid to vote for such a racist/misogynistic tw-t. Although celebrities do not win a candidate an election, they definitely influence it. For example, everyday over 1.7 million people see what Donald Trump tweets. Sometimes these tweets spark great conversations, conversations a person wouldn’t be having if the subject had not been breached. In America, we are obsessed with Hollywood. We know where celebrities live, who theyre married to, and their favorite things to do on the weekend. So why wouldn’t people want to know who their favorite celebrity is voting for? Knowing this may not sway one person to vote one way or another, but it certainly could validate who they are voting for.